Haunted Crystal
by doesitweighmorethanaduck
Summary: One day, I found a very strange cartridge at a yard sale... And that was where the horror began... Rated K just to be safe


****A/N: Just a little Pokèpasta that I came up with at school. I don't own anything.****

It was by accident that I found the cartridge. I had been looking for an old Gameboy system for a while, as I was born into the fourth generation and had never been able to play the original Gen 2 or 3 games, or either version of the Gen 1 games.

But enough about me. It's time to talk about the version of Pokèmon Crystal that told the story of what happens when you can't fulfill a promise...

It all started when I saw a Gameboy Color at a yard sale. There were a few games as well- most of them were things that I had heard of, but didn't personally have much interest in. But there was one game that caught my eye.

As soon as I picked it up, I knew that it wasn't an ordinary Crystal cartridge. There was a picture of the male and female protagonists, with Silver between them. It looked like fanart.

I asked the person who was selling it about it, and he said it was for free if I wanted it (I still had to pay for the Gameboy itself, though). I took it home, knowing full well that it was a bootleg. Maybe it was that hilarious badly-translated version.

But when I loaded it up, I saw that this was not the case. It was in perfect English, but the title screen showed a ring lying on the ground next to a battered pokèball. There wasn't any music.

When the continue/new game option came up, I tried to select continue, but it said, "You can't go back to that."

So I selected new game.

Now, remember that I had only ever played DS games before, so it took me a while to figure out the controls. When I finally got the hang of it, I noticed that there was no introduction by Professor Oak. I guessed it already had the name and gender picked out for me.

Indeed it did, as I was immediately placed in what looked like the middle of somebody else's game, even though it was supposed to be a new game. For one thing, I had all my badges, a full team of Pokèmon, and I was in the Kanto region.

I was a girl, which was good because that's what I am. My name was... Haunt?

When I checked my trainer card, I saw that I looked like a slightly older version of the regular female protagonist. When I squinted, I could see dark circles under her eyes, and some kind of ring on her finger.

I had a lot of money, and my team consisted of a Meganium and several ghost types. I had no idea how the last player had gotten this far with such an unbalanced team.

I decided to check out my surroundings. It looked like I was in the Viridian Forest.

"I'm on the road to Viridian City," I sang to myself, finding this very amusing for some reason.

But my amusement gave way to fear when a wild Pokèmon appeared that wasn't supposed to be there.

It was a Gastly. Now, this alone wasn't all that scary, since I had already known it was a bootleg. The unsettling part was the fact that its sprite contained the pale outline of a trainer sprite. However, I couldn't tell which type it was supposed to be. I sent out my Meganium- which was nicknamed Stop, for some unfathomable reason- and easily defeated it.

Just as I arrived in Viridian City, I got a call on my Pokègear. It was my "childhood friend", Ethan... only that's not what our relationship seemed to be in this game. Also, his name was Gold rather than Ethan. Apparently the conversations in this game were two-sided, because this is what it looked like:

Gold: "Crystal, when are you coming home? You've got your badges. You've got your complete Pokèdex."

Crystal: "I'm coming, Gold. Just hang on."

Gold: "You said that you loved me."

Crystal: "I'm trying to get to Saffron. I'll take the magnet train back."

Gold: "You'd better hurry. Silver is coming after you."

That was where the conversation ended. I realized that the game was referring to me as Crystal now, but when I checked my trainer card my name was still supposed to be Haunt.

I went into the Pokèmon centre and checked the PC box. I'd have to take out a Pokémon that could fly.

However, to my utter confusion, there was nothing but ghost types. Gold had said I had a complete Pokèdex, and when I checked it I saw that to be true. Why would anyone release or trade away such an accomplishment for a bunch of ghosts?

Fortunately, I did have a bicycle. I hopped on and rode away, getting to Saffron City a lot more quickly than I would have otherwise.

When I got to the train station, Gold contacted me again. The conversation was exactly the same, but in a glitched-looking font. I got on the train and watched the animation as I rode over to Johto.

I noticed that Goldenrod City's music was a little different than usual. Shrugging it off, I got back on the bike and rode all the way back to New Bark Town without any incidents, other than the occasional wild Pokèmon battle- always a ghost type. It took me quite a while, though, so I was a little annoyed when I got there and he was nowhere to be found.

When I talked to Gold's mother, she said, "I told you I thought you were both much too young."

Upstairs, there was an object on his desk that wasn't supposed to be there- a little purple box. When I interacted with it, a little text box popped up that said: "It's really a shame..."

Just then, the lights flickered and Silver's sprite appeared beside mine.

"Don't run away." He moved toward the object on the desk. "You said you wouldn't pick him."

Haunt: "I was afraid of what you might do..."

Oh, so now my name was Haunt. What changed the game's mind?

Taint: "He's lost inside his own mind. You have to give up on him."

So Silver's name was Taint now? His sprite bumped up against the box, knocking it onto the floor.

Taint: "We're dead, you know. You have to forget both of us."

Haunt: "I'm going to wear that ring. I'm going to do it."

The screen turned black. When the gameplay resumed, I was standing at the entrance to Sprout Tower, in Violet City. The edges of the screen faded into white, suggesting that this was a flashback of some sort.

I tried to walk away, but a text box came up saying, "You can't go now. He's counting on you."

I went inside. Gold was waiting for me, pacing back and forth. I went up and talked to him.

Gold: "What took you so long?! There are ghosts here when the sun goes down, you know."

Crystal: "My apologies. But we're not here for ghosts, we're here for Bellsprout, right?"

Gold: "I don't see why you want one, anyway."

Crystal: "Well, I want to have a grass type gym one day, so I need all the grass types I can get."

This dialogue was innocent, holding no hint of terror except for his ominous warning.

We walked up to the second floor. Just before we got to the ladder, I heard the sound effect for somebody going through a door.

No wild Pokèmon appeared in the tower, ghost types or otherwise.

At the top floor, Gold looked out the window.

Gold: "This is bad. The sun has already set."

Crystal: "Don't worry. I have an escape rope."

Gold: "It's too late. Silver told you to come alone."

Crystal: "He's really going to kill you, isn't he?"

Just then, Silver walked onscreen. He said nothing, but there was a Pokémon with him.

I felt like that was a familiar concept for some reason. But he wasn't supposed to have it. And he wasn't supposed to be here.

Crystal: "I'm so sorry... I know I lied. The truth is, Gold and I are engaged. I can't be with you."

Gold: "You can't reason with him. He's too far gone to see the light."

The Pokèmon began to glow, its sprite bumping up against Gold's.

Crystal: "No!"

The game seemed to lag for a few seconds before Gold's sprite turned red.

Lost: "Leave..."

Who was this Lost person? I felt like I already knew.

Taint: "Turn back now. You aren't useful."

His sprite merged with the Pokèmon's. Gold's sprite was gone. My own was slowly turning red, but suddenly the escape rope animation began. I disappeared from the tower, coming out in front of it and running away.

The flashback ended. I was back in my room once more. This time when I interacted with the purple box, it said: "Haunt put on the Promise Ring."

I was fairly certain that wasn't the name of an item. In fact, I realized now that the box had contained an engagement ring- possibly the same one from the title screen.

My sprite started moving on its own, walking all the way to Violet City. I didn't get bored watching her get there, though. The screen kept flashing in various colours, and the pale sprites of Silver and Gold kept popping up and then vanishing. The music was very unpredictable, playing variations of different tunes, most of which sounded corrupted.

Every now and then, a text box would pop up saying, "Please don't go."

When I finally got to my destination, Silver was waiting for me outside.

Taint: "I only wanted to be cared for by you."

Haunt: "Why did you do it?"

Taint: "... Go on in. He's still waiting for you- just like me."

He disappeared. I walked inside, floor by floor until I reached the top. A few wild Pokèmon appeared. All of them were Gastly, even though it wasn't night. I took them all down with my Meganium. It was clear that the Pokèmon themselves weren't the point of this story, anyway.

When I reached the top, there were red pixels all over the floor- obviously representing blood splatter. I was almost too scared too keep looking at the screen at that point.

The sprites of Gold and Silver were also stained with red. Gold was lying facedown on the ground, with what looked like an Unown hovering over him. Silver was sitting, slumped against a wall. There was a broken Pokèball lying next to him, along with an escape rope.

I tried to interact with both of them, but both times a text box came up saying, "So this is what's been haunting me."

When I interacted with Silver's Pokèball, it said the same thing. Then the sprite wavered, became corrupted, and then reformed into the purple box from earlier.

I didn't even press A this time, but a text box came up again.

"Haunt opened the box... Who will wear the Promise Ring?"

I was confused at first. Then I realized that my character was going to put an engagement ring on the finger of one of two corpses. She had been in denial for years after her two suitors had killed each other, and she had fled.

Hands shaking, I tried Gold first.

"Lost received the Promise Ring."

I thought maybe it was over. But I couldn't walk away. An invisible barrier blocked my path.

I interacted with Gold again, but nothing happened. The same thing happened with Silver. The empty box had nothing to offer.

Finally, I reluctantly tried the last item left to interact with- the escape rope.

"Wouldn't you like to escape?"

-YES

-NO

I selected NO. But it said, "You'll never see them again..." and then went back to the yes/no option.

So I chose the only possible option. I selected YES.

The escape rope animation began, but my sprite turned red as it spun, slowing down as the screen around it darkened.

Finally, the screen froze, and the game crashed. When I reloaded it, the title screen showed three old, chipped, faded graves in a row. Below this image were five words.

"Crystal used the escape rope."

I turned it off and loaded it up again. I saw the continue/new game option, but it obviously wouldn't let me continue. I played it from the beginning again, and found that during the part of the part of the game where Gold was calling me on my Pokègear, I actually could explore all over Kanto and Johto, but nothing was really different (no, not even Lavender Town, although it was just as creepy as usual). The game didn't have time to deal with trivial issues.

It was designed for one reason- to tell the story of a girl who had wanted to be with the man she loved, even in death.

Shortly after, I turned it in to a pawn shop. Maybe it's still out there somewhere, just waiting for somebody else to discover the tale of Haunted Crystal.

END


End file.
